If you’re a full-time writer, earning your living from your writing, this would include anything you do that’s not writing or editing.

Make a List

So, I recommend you make a list of everything that you’re doing that is not making you money, any non-billable hours. Then on that list, look at which tasks can be done by someone else.

As an example, my list is this: Data entry, social media maintenance, graphic art design, and most recently, client phone calls and scheduling.

If you’re like me, this list sounds daunting and overwhelming. How do I do delegate?

Well, there’s a step-by-step process that I learned from an amazing Jen Lehner webinar/class. (And no, I don’t earn anything for recommending her class so you know I have no ulterior motives).

I’m going to lay out a simplified process, but I do recommend her class for in-depth information.

Your first step is to make that list and put everything on it. You don’t have to offload every single thing, especially at once, but do list everything so you can look at all of it objectively.

the #1 most important thing

The next step is to decide what the #1 most important thing to offload will be.

STEP ONEThe way I picked out what to do first is by looking at what I hated doing the most, which also happened to be the most time consuming.

Thinking about training someone can be daunting. I believed, “It will take me longer to train them than to do it myself.” For that I want to give you something you can do right now to prepare.

STEP TWOThere’s an awesome FREE program: Loom. You can use Loom to record your desktop and your voice. I recommend that the next time you are performing a task you are considering offloading that you tape it with Loom and label it. It’s super easy and takes no extra time at all to do! That’s step two. J

So now go make your list and remember to record when you’re performing those tasks yourself! Then check back in next month for the rest of the steps!